Fashion and Los Angeles

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Interesting topic, indeed. Please see response attached, which is also presented below. Good luck and take care.

RESPONSE:

Why is Los Angeles important as a fashion center?

Historically, fashion gerus from Europe took hold of the American market, including Los Angeles. This, combined with the diverse cultural heritage - and art and drama - made for a fashion center that was glorified and mystified to its present day "idea of a fashion capital."

Los Angeles included in conferences for the so-called "Fashion Capitals"

New York, Paris, London, Milan, Tokyo. The list of so-called fashion capitals is a familiar one, routinely incorporated into the advertising of high fashion, perhaps after the name of a designer or brand, or etched into the glass of a shop window. The 'idea of a fashion capital' or 'world city of fashion' has a history that stretches back at least two centuries, with the promotion of Paris as a global centre of style. In the twenty-first century, the status of fashion capital has now become a goal for city boosters and planners, part of a wider promotion of the 'cultural economy' of major cities. In sessions that range from Milan to Shanghai, and Los Angeles to Mumbai, this international interdisciplinary conference explores different dimensions of the relationship between major metropolises and the production, consumption and mythologizing of fashion. (Source: http://www.fashion.arts.ac.uk/fashioncities.htm).

Los Vegas became an important fashion center for various reason. Historically fashion spread from Europe to United States where fashion gerus saw a rich profit-making market. The diverse cultural and arts of Los Angplos somewhat mytholgized the LA fashion trends., to name a few.

I. Historical Events in Fashion

Fashion in dress, the prevailing mode affecting modifications in costume. Styles in Asia have been characterized by freedom from change, and ancient Greek and Roman dress preserved the same flowing lines for centuries. Fashion in dress and interior decoration may be said to have originated in Europe about the 14th cent. New styles were set by monarchs and prominent personages and were spread by travelers, by descriptions in letters, and, in costume, by the exchange of the fashion doll. The first fashion magazine is thought to have originated c.1586 in Frankfurt, Germany; it was widely imitated, gradually superseding fashion dolls. Godey's Lady's Book, established in the United States in 1830, remained popular for decades. In interior decoration the influence of designers, such as Chippendale, Sheraton, and Robert and James Adam, was apparent in the 18th cent., but in costume the only influential designer at that period was Rose Bertin, milliner and dressmaker to Marie Antoinette.

In Paris?the leading arbiter of fashion since the Renaissance?the fading influence of celebrities was coincident with the rise of designer-dressmakers in the mid-19th cent. Paris haute couture has remained preeminent in setting fashions for women's dress. Designers such as Charles Frederick Worth, Coco Chanel, Lucien Lelong, Elsa Schiaparelli, Cristóbal Balenciaga, Christian Dior, and Yves Saint Laurent have had fashion houses in Paris. In the latter part of the 20th cent. such American designers as Norman Norell, Mainbocher, James Galanos, Bill Blass, and Pauline Trigère competed successfully with Parisian designers. London, in the early 19th cent., became the center for men's fashions under the leadership of Regency dandies such as Beau Brummell. In the mid-1960s, London was again for a time the center of fashion influence.

The 1970s and 80s saw the beginning of more divergent trends in fashion. This was the result of the increasing popularity of ready-to-wear collections by major designers, which made fashionable label-conscious dressing possible for the middle class. Ethnic-inspired looks and the punk style enjoyed a period of popularity. Successful clothing designers such as Ralph Lauren, Georgio Armani, Gianni Versace, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Rei Kawakubo, and Geoffrey Beene widened their design horizons, licensed their names, and put their distinctive marks on objects ranging from furniture to cars, fabric, and perfumes. The look of luxuriance that emerged in the 1980s was countered in the 1990s with the production of classic understated clothes. Fashions are adapted for mass production by the garment industries of New York, Los Angeles, and other cities. (Source: http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/society/A0818307.html that includes bibliography).

II. Art, Culture and Fashion Link

Los Angeles has a diverse cultural heritage, which makes for a rich arena for diverse fashion explosions. Mainly, adventurous fashion agents capitalize on the profit potential culture in Los Angeles and the artist and cultural diversity creates the illusion of fashion mysticism.
California African-American Museum, Los Angeles
This large modern museum is dedicated to the success of African-Americans in a wide range of fields.
Attraction type: History museum
Armand Hammer Museum of Art and Cultural Center, Los Angeles

This large art museum specializes in Impressionist paintings, displaying works by Monet, Sargent, van Gogh and more.
Attraction type: Art gallery
Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits, Los Angeles
Museum featuring artifacts from the La Brea tar pits.
Attraction type: History museum; Science museum; Natural history museum
Southwest Museum, Los Angeles

Offering extensive holdings of Prehispanic, Spanish Colonial, Latino and Western Art and artifacts, this is one of the nation's most important museum and archive collections related to the American Indian.
Attraction type: Natural history museum; History museum
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles
One of the nation's largest natural history museums.
Attraction type: Natural history museum
(Source: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g32655-Activities-c1-oa20-Los_Angeles_California.html).

III. Fashion Experts know the market: Appeal to the Youth

Otis Teams With Nike Jessica Marks
Rock 'n' Roll T-Shirt Boogie
Who: JL Marks
What: Debut party for designer Jessica Marks' boutique
When: May 7
Where: JL Marks boutique, 8216 W. Third St., Los Angeles
The Scene: It's no secret that concert T-shirts are part of the necessary uniform for youth. Designer Jessica Marks re-imagined this staple of American fashion, which is sold at her Los Angeles-based boutique.
On May 7, Marks debuted her latest collection. With some vintage lace and stretch cottons, Marks transformed the concert T? typically a boxy shirt bearing rock 'n' roll graphics? and other vintage pieces into form-fitting dresses and tops meant to unleash every woman's inner rocker. Marks said the 12-piece JL Marks collection is a reflection of her personality and history. "I'm a Midwestern girl," Marks said. "I'm the life of the party."

She is also a businesswoman who moved to Los Angeles to complete a degree at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in 2002. She opened her 1,000-square-foot store in September 2004.

The store, decorated with stained-glass windows and felt-flocked wallpaper, currently only sells Marks' designs. Price points range from $50 for tank tops to $300 for dresses. The line features the "Vintage Girlie" dress, a patchwork of vintage fabrics reshaped into a cocktail dress. There is also the store's bestseller, a knee-length terry-cloth dress with an open back, and the "Jessie" dress, made out of metallic chiffon with sequin trim.
?Andrew Asch
photos: Giulio Marcocchi

ATTENTION TOTAL ACCESS SUBSCRIBERS:
Now open...
Our Spring 2005 Fashion Gallery
featuring coverage of all the runway
shows held from October 22-
November 2, 2004 during
Los Angeles Fashion Week... (See http://www.apparelnews.net/Fashion/)).

IV. Music and Arts and Costume: Fashion in Los Angeles

The Music Center is one of the three largest performing arts centers in the nation, and one of the world's premier cultural organizations. Located in downtown Los Angeles, the Music Center is home to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Ahmanson Theater, Mark Taper Forum and Walt Disney Concert Hall.

Each year, the Music Center welcomes more than 1.3 million people to performances by its four internationally renowned performing arts companies: Los Angeles Philharmonic www.laphil.org, under Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen; Center Theatre Group (CTG) www.taperahmanson.com, headed by founding Artistic Director/Producer Gordon Davidson; Los Angeles Opera www.losangelesopera.com, led by Artistic Director Placido Domingo; and Los Angeles Master Chorale www.lamc.org, under Music Director Grant Gershon. The Music Center also offers Dance at the Music Center www.musiccenter.org/dance.html, a series of internationally acclaimed performances that represent traditional and contemporary techniques and styles from around the world.

The Music Center Education Division www.musiccenter.org/education, nationally recognized for its school programs, teacher training, and development of arts curriculum, provides the finest in arts education to more than 350,000 students and teachers annually through nearly 14,000 programs presented in 20 languages. (Source: http://www.musiccenter.org/history.html).

A. CULTURAL HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES: Music and Drama and Fashion

The cultural history of Los Angeles, at least in terms of music and drama, dates back to the frontier days when the Merced Theatre was constructed on Main Street in 1870. The ground level was planned as a retail store, the second floor housed a 400-seat Theatre, and the third floor was an apartment. After its first years of glory, it subsisted on minstrel shows and melodrama, including such stands as Uncle Tom's Cabin, East Lynne, and Ten Nights in a Bar Room. In 1876 it was leased by J.H. Wood and became Wood's Opera House. Opera House, however, was more of a name than a description of the entertainment, which ranged from boxing matches to broad farces. Wood went bankrupt in 1878. For a time, the Theatre served as armory, but in 1883 it reopened as the Club Theatre, another variety house.

Upstanding Angelenos looked on the Theatre as scandalous, giving rise to the construction of several legitimate Theatres. First of the new Theatres was Child's Opera House, almost immediately renamed the Grand Opera House, which was built in 1884 by O.W. Childs on Main Street just south of First. At that time it was the second largest Theatre on the Pacific Coast, seating 1,200. A second Theatre opened four ...